Sorry for the absence, we were internet-less this weekend during the trip to Cappadocia - a region central Turkey. In addition to being my first adventure outside of Istanbul, it was a fabulous and beautiful trip. We left at 9:30pm on Thursday for an overnight bus to the hotel. It was about an 11 hour ride, and we had been warned that it was unlikely that we'd sleep. We ended up only making one stop about 2 hours into the ride, which made for many international students doing a pee dance when we arrived the next morning around 9. The ride was nice in that we were able to see other parts of Turkey. It was SO flat, you could see for miles, I am sure. I tried to take a few photos, but it was difficult as we were moving. Here is the best one I could find. It's right after sunrise.
When we arrived at the hotel, we had most of the day to recoup and relax. There was a spa, which some people enjoyed, but a few of us postponed our visit for the next evening and set out exploring. We walked down the road a bit, but the hotel was virtually in the middle of nowhere, so there wasn't much to see. We decided to (literally) follow in the (snowy) footsteps of some of our comrades and climb a tall hill (which we referred to as a mountain to feel better about ourselves...) next to the hotel. It was definitely worth the hike. We were afforded panoramic views of the area, which consisted mainly of rolling snowy hills. It was beautiful! Here are some snapshots of the journey:
Some of the girls climbing up the stairs at the foot of the hill (probably 7 flights worth, then we were pathless the rest of the way)
A view from about 1/4 the way up, showing the small town around the hotel. If you look closely, you can see the minaret from the mosque in town. Someone gave the call to prayer periodically starting around 5:30am. It was somewhat annoying early in the morning, but also really cool to live within earshot of a mosque.
The reddish/brown building is our hotel - The Dadak Thermal Hotel
One of the wonderful girls on the trip clued me into the panorama app on my iPhone. She had to help me figure out how to use it, but once I figured it out, I was hooked! I'm slowly becoming obsessed with it! Here is a panorama from the top of the hill. I think that if you click on it, you will probably be able to zoom in a bit... (don't quote me)
Another photo from the top, we're about to head back down.
Some of the girls on the trip and I at the summit. It was enough of a climb that we all stripped off out jackets about 3/4 of the way up.
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. We ate a delicious dinner in the hotel and then played Phase 10 with a few CIEE folks. We went to the hotel disco for a little while, but despite a three-hour nap, we were exhausted and turned in early to prepare for the next day's sightseeing.
Awesome revelation of the day: even though most TV was dubbed in Turkish, we searched and finally found a channel that carried American late night shows that were only subtitled, so we shamelessly enjoyed some Conan O'Brien and Jay Leno in English before falling asleep. It was lovely :) After four weeks of immersion, I think we all appreciated some cultural downtime.
I'm hoping to post some of the sights tomorrow! It was really one of the coolest places I've ever been. The area is full of intricate rock formations and cities carved out of stone. Here is a teaser photo:
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